According to this article a bustard has bred in the wild in Britain for the first time in 200 years. In fact three chicks have hatched at two sites on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. The exact spots are being kept secret in order to protect the bird but the news is the first sign that an reintroduction programme might be working. In 2004 forty chicks were brought to Britain from Russia to their new home on Salisbury Plain. Bustards, however, are slow to mature and the first known nest in 2007 produced infertile eggs. The presence of chicks is encouraging and there are hopes that the population will now be able to become self sustaining.

An unemployed mortgage advisor has put himself up for auction on eBay. Andy Palmer was made redundant from Northern Rock in August and having had no luck finding a new job has decided to take the unusual step of offering his services in an auction. He has given himself a minimum price of £1,000 and for this he will work for a month. He will also give 25% of the winning bid to charity.

Weather forecasters are predicting that the UK will have a hot summer this year. Whilst this is good news cancer experts are predicting that this could lead to a rise in people suffering from skin conditions. They have issued a warning to sunbathers which they hope will make them act more sensibly when it comes to enjoying the sun. It never fails to amaze me the amount of people that don’t take the simple precaution of wearing sun block and staying out of the sun at the hottest times. It seems that people in the UK think that the sun in Britain is not strong enough to do any damage. Already I have seen several people who have the lobster effect and I’m guessing I will see many more, it seems the message from the cancer experts just doesn’t get through.

Most people would be more than a little wary about buying a see through swim suit. It isn’t, however, quite as daunting as you would think. The swimsuit is made up of a chicken wire type fabric which when held up to the light is completely transparent. However, abstract patterns confuse the naked eye so that it appears to be a solid fabric. The microscopic holes in the suit allow 80 per of sunlight to penetrate through to the skin so if you are wanting to get an all over tan this summer then it might be the thing to buy. Personally the concept of holes in a swimsuit doesn’t quite grab me, I think I will stick to solid fabrics.

Beavers have been released into the wild in Scotland for the first time in 400 years. The 11 beavers have been released in Knapdale Forest, Argyll. They are part of a reintroduction production that could soon see beavers becoming a more common sight in the UK. The beavers have been fitted with tracking devices and their progress will be closely monitored. The programme has gone ahead despite some concerns that the beavers will have a adverse affect on fish stocks. It will be interesting to revisit this in a few months and see how they are getting on.

When the governments scrappage scheme was launched I was sceptical about how successful it would be. Whilst it has not persuaded me to purchase a new car it does appear to have met with some success. The scheme gives motorists £2,000 towards a new car if they trade in a vehicle over ten years old. According to this article more than 35,000 new cars have been ordered through the scheme since it was launched in April. However, only around 7,000 of these vehicles are likely to have been brought in British factories so its hard to gauge whether the scheme has had the intended impact. The rapid take up of the scheme does also mean that more than a tenth of the total £300m subsidy has already been used up, so if you want to trade in your old banger you better be quick, it is estimated all the funds will have been allocated by the end of the year.

According to this article Sky has struck a deal with Microsoft that will see their content offered through the Xbox. Under the deal live football, TV and films will be available through the Xbox. It is likely to be available in the autumn although no details have been released on how much it will cost. There is likely to be some deals available for people who already subscribe to Sky offering them content at a reduced cost but once again no specifics have yet been released.

This is an interesting idea that appears to be quite popular in Japan. It’s a cat cafe. That’s not a place where you eat cats but more a place where you go to drink tea and play with the cats. Customers wanting to spend some time with a cat can stroke and play with with one of the 20 resident cats at a cost of around $9 for an hour. It is aimed at people who want a pet but who have busy lifestyles or work long hours so can’t have one. I wonder if this would work over in the UK, I have four cats that can I rent out for a few hours and I’m sure they would love the attention.

If you are thinking of robbing a convenience store you would think that the first thing you need is a good disguise. One man, however, appears to think differently. He robbed a store using an ingenious beer box disguise which he had obviously made himself. Despite his unusual choice of headwear the man managed to get away with $50 of cigarettes.

Personally I’m not quite sure why you would want to visit Starbucks but that’s my opinion. Some people obviously do like the brand but other people like this man might be bordering on the obsessive. He has made it his mission to visit every Starbucks around the world. He has managed an impressive 9,100 and is now in England to visit the 400 outlets over here. After the UK he will move onto a tour of Europe, visiting Spain, Portugal, Germany and Romania. At every outlet he orders a regular cup of coffee and takes a picture and puts it on his website. So far he has spent around $100,000 on his project over a course of 12 years. He estimates that he still has 3,000 outlets worldwide still to visit.

Designer Paul Smith has created these rubbish bins in the shape of giant rabbits to try and reduce London’s litter. The bins have flashing ears which light up when rubbish is put into them. They will be tested for four months to see if they encourage more people to put their rubbish in the bin. The bins have been unveiled in Covent Garden, central London and Holland Park.

According to this article there is an increasing demand for squirrel pie. Apparently a pest controller who has been supplying top chefs with grey squirrels is finding it difficult to meet demand. He has culled around 22,000 grey squirrels in the North East but now has plans to work with landowners in the south of England in order to maintain supplies of squirrels and meet the increasing demand for squirrel meat. It seems the squirrels are so popular that as soon as he kills them they are sold. I haven't tried squirrel pie but it sounds as though I might be missing out.

I watched the program Big Chef Little Chef with interest when it was screened. For those who haven't seen it, it was a documentary about the efforts to revive the failing Little Chef brand. The managing director Ian Pegler had called in celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal to try and revamp the failing chain. They started by looking at one branch in Popham and overhauled the dated decoration and uninspiring menu. However, Heston’s changes failed to make a profit in the opening launch and it was unclear whether they would rolled out across the entire Little Chef brand. Ian Pegler, did, however, agree to trial the new menu in the Popham branch with the possibility of extending it across the chain if it proved successful. According to this article customers have been making dedicated trips to visit the Popham Little Chef and are using it as a dining experience rather than just a convenient stop off on their journey. Mr Pegler has now announced that the menu will be trialled in other parts of the country but will be eventually be rolled out across the entire brand. Unfortunately I do not have a Little Chef near me, but I would be interested to sample the new menu in comparison to the rather bland and uninspiring food I remember from my last Little Chef experience.

According to this article the cuckoo has featured of Britain’s list of endangered birds for the first time. The latest assessment of Britain’s native birds puts the cuckoo as one of 52 species which are now considered to be at risk. Numbers of the bird have fallen by as much as 37% in the last 15 years. Other birds on the list include the lapwing, tree pipit, wood warbler and yellow wagtail. Once common species such as the song thrush, house sparrow and starling have also seen a drastic decline mainly caused by loss of habitat.

Stinking Bishop has been voted Britain’s smelliest cheese. The cheese which is made by Charles Martell and Son in Gloucestershire has been described as smelling like a rugby club changing room. It was voted as the winner at the Britain’s Smelliest Cheese Championships beating Driftwood by Whitelake Cheeses which came second and St Oswald by Gorsehill Abbey which took third place. I haven't tried Stinking Bishop but I might have to get some to see what its like. Watch this space for the review.

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